Sunday, June 7, 1998 Last modified at 1:36 a.m. on Sunday, June 7, 1998

Minority enrollment rebounds at UT medical, dental schools

AUSTIN (AP) - University of Texas medical and dental schools plan to enroll as many blacks and Hispanics this fall as in 1996, before a federal court Hopwood decision eliminated affirmative action programs at state colleges.

Records released Friday showed UT making strides as it looks beyond grades and test scores when choosing future doctors, UT System chancellor William Cunningham said.

"I'm very pleased with the progress the medical schools have made," he told the Austin American-Statesman.

UT admissions officers interviewed more candidates and considered a broader range of qualities, including family background, dedication to learning and success in overcoming adversity.

But Cunningham said he is not prepared to claim victory over the Hopwood decision that was rendered by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

At UT's four medical schools - in Galveston, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio - 42 blacks plan to enroll out of 790 students. That compares with 24 blacks in an entering class of 800 last year.

In 1996, before Hopwood took effect, the medical schools enrolled 41 blacks.

Among Hispanics, 134 applicants - the same number as in 1996 - have made commitments to enroll in UT medical schools this fall. That's a third more than the 100 of last year.

At the two dental schools, in San Antonio and Houston, two blacks and 19 Hispanics are slated to enroll in the first-year fall class of 151 students. That compares to two blacks in 1997 and one in 1996. Seven Hispanics enrolled in 1997 and 12 in 1996.

"We won't have final figures until fall registration," said Budge Mabry, director of the medical and dental applications center at the UT System. But "very, very few" will back out now, he said.

Diversity is especially important in medical schools because minorities often return to work in their home communities, some of which badly need doctors, said David Jones, chairman of admissions at the UT Medical School at San Antonio.

"Our whole process was not geared to simply cast a wider net to pick up more minority students," Jones said.

"It was to pick up people who had the same qualities or values. Just using grades and MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) scores . . . do not predict the success of a medical student or a physician."

Enrollment changes have not been made at Texas A&M's lone medical school, and there is a continued decline in enrollment of blacks and Hispanics.

Texas A&M had fewer applications from minorities and countered by making more offers to blacks and Hispanics. But medical schools compete fiercely for minority students, and A&M has held onto only three Hispanics among the 64 students it intends to enroll, said Filo Maldonado, assistant dean for admissions.

The school offered admission to six black students and lost them all, one by one - the last one on Friday, Maldonado said.

The school is planning changes for 1999 admissions procedures, including interviewing more applicants and evaluating students more broadly, as UT has done.

Texas Tech University won't have enrollment data for weeks. several more weeks., a spokeswoman said.